Alcoholic Elements In The Works Of Edgar Allan Poe

Alcoholic. Opiate-addict. Melancholic. These are the most memorable traits of Edgar Allan Poe’s life. Nevertheless, Poe is still a sensational author with today’s readers. In the forty years that he was alive, from 1809 to 1849, Poe was able to introduce a genre of macabre and mysterious writing otherwise unseen in Victorian literature. For example, Poe’s 1827 poem “Dreams,” published in his book “Tamerlane and Other Poems,” narrates the story of a figure who would rather dream their life away than reconcile reality’s grimness. As it is read, Poe’s “Dreams,” harnesses its narrator’s story to evoke feelings of sorrowful nostalgia, by combining a wallowing opening with a reminiscent middle and mournful ending. In the opening stanza of “Dreams,”

For example, when the character speaks of their younger days, they report,“It would be folly to hope for higher heaven,” (Poe, 15). In this excerpt, the character makes two points about their youth: it was heaven and it can’t be topped. As an introductory piece, it is foreseeable that this line intentionally raises these points to connect the idea of youth with goodness. Following that connection, it is written, “‘Twas once- and only once- and the wild hour from my remembrance shall not pass,” (Poe, 15). Unlike the first line, the narration now describes youth as entirely memorable, but also momentary and brief. In effect, these two polarized connections about youth, between good and brief, mix. That mixture of goodness followed by longfulness become Poe’s nostalgic foundation. In closure, when Poe’s character narrates about the emotions he has while dreaming of his youth, the great and yearningful sensations he describes draw out feelings of

Notably, the protagonist’s emotional deliberation in the poem’s first stanza unconsciously collects the empathy of readers. From there on out, the narrator mentions good details of youth followed by notices of how short yet unforgettable it was; in that order, the two accounts evoke nostalgia. In the final part of “Dreams,” the dominant tone is two part: first hopelessness about reality and then despair about how he would rather dream. In turn, readers get an indirect impression of sadness without a remedy. All things considered, what is happiness and substance without a proportion of sorrow and fantasy along the